The term "ideology" predates Marx and Engels, e.g., Antoine Destutt de Tracy (1796) coined the word to refer to the science of ideas. Since de Tracy, the term "ideology" has evolved into different meanings without definitive agreement (like "postmodernism"). Marx and Engels' definition--often simplified to false consciousness--is frequently invoked by left liberal, socialist, and anarchist critics, but is this same definition used by liberal or conservative scholars and pundits?
Michael Freeden provides a provisional definition in Ideology: A Very Short Introduction (2003). "A political ideology is a set of beliefs, opinions, and values that
(1) exhibit a recurring pattern
(2) are held by significant groups
(3) compete over providing and controlling plans for public policy
(4) do so with the aim of justifying, contesting or changing the social and political arrangements and processes of a political community"
If ideology is provisionally defined in this way, then how does it differ from political philosophy, which also offers opinions, values, and proposes sets of belief? Does the labor of philosophy transform into ideology once philosophical work evolves into a more or less defined school that then attracts mediators such as public policy think tanks and influential journals with connections to politicians, lobbyists, and academics, which streamline philosophical thought into a type of "blueprint" for implementation?
What does the (partial) phrase "...the ideological and political construction of the middle class..." mean?
Note: I didn't have a chance to pursue an independent study on ideology during my masters coursework, and our uses of "ideology" / "ideological" often strike me as problematic and not always coherent.
Ashwin, thank you for your contribution, and my apologies for not responding sooner (work drew me away for awhile). Althusser was never a primary thinker in my undergraduate comp lit curriculum (only in bits and pieces). Where is a good place to start with him (either his own work or a critical study of him)?
Hi Peter, I'd suggest starting with his influencial pamphlet "Ideological State Apparatuses" available on the net. The question he raises which is later expanded upon very well by Zizek (both borrow from Lacan) is how ideology becomes personalised: i.e., unless we believe that ideas can be perceived and held in cognition and invested with meaning, we have to explain how subjects come to identify themselves with the state and accept the language of the state as their own. It's a good read, and should be part of every undergraduate degree, even dentistry. Particularly dentistry. Cheers, Jonas
Jonas, thank you for the Althusser reading suggestion. I found a pdf copy online and will start reading it shortly. I may post further questions related to it afterwards.
Dear Peter,
regarding reading suggestions, I would recommend the following:
* on Gramsci, I would recommend
Perry Anderson. 1976. The Antinomies of Antonio Gramsci. in New Left Review I/100.
* For a more postmodern take on this, maybe
Laclau, Ernesto and Chantal Mouffe. 1985. Hegemony and Socialist Strategy.
* Then of course there is the already-mentioned
Zizek, Slavoj. 1989. The Sublime Object of Ideology.
* If care to venture further the Postmodern road, there is also a discussion between Zizek, Laclau and Butler in
Butler, Judith, Ernesto Laclau and Slavoj Zizek. 2000. Contingency, Hegemony, Universality.
* A totally different take on ideology is presented by Karl Mannheim in his contribution to the sociology of knowledge (a little closer to Freeden):
Mannheim, Karl. 1936. Ideology and Utopia
* Thinking of sociology, also always worth a read is Foucault:
Foucault, Michel. 1975. Discipline and Punish. (or almost any other book by him)
* Actually, maybe a better introduction to Foucault's relation to sociology of knowledge would be:
Foucault, Michel. 1981. The Order of Discourse. Inaugural Lecture at the College de France. in: Young, Robert (ed.), Untying the Text. A Post-Sturturalist Reader.
Hope this helps.
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